A decision has been made and there will be no turning back with regards to Kaizer Chiefs' appointment of Molefi Ntseki as the club's head coach for the upcoming season.
Despite being linked with several coaches in recent weeks, including Pitso Mosimane who has since been appointed as the coach of Al Wahda Football Club in the United Aab Emirates as well as double-treble winner Nasreddine Nabi from Tunisia, Amakhosi decide on Ntseki to carry the hopes of the team.
As announced by the Soweto giants on Wednesday, Arthur Zwane has been demoted to the role of assistant coach to work closely with Dillon Sheppard in Ntseki's technical team, with the club expecting a better season than the fifth place finish of the 2022/23 campaign and without a trophy.
The Good
"To be honest, that is a decision which caught everyone by surprise. It is good for our clubs to give local coaches a chance but I don't think this was the right time for his appointment. But the decision has been made and let's give him a chance and all that we can do is to wait and see. I think the club went for his CV and decided to appoint him for experience in working with the young players. With regards to Arthur, I know him well as I have played with him, and I think the club decided to remove him in order to protect him. If they were to retain him for next season, he was going to continue being under pressure from the supporters and you saw what happened to him and the supporters towards the end of the season. Arthur is a good guy and is disciplined and you might have heard his comments with regards to not being willing to work with players who lack discipline," said Mabotsa.
The Bad
"It's been a while since he (Ntseki) last coached and I think that is why everyone was surprised at his appointment. You know Chiefs and how the club is expected to do and the club is expected to bring in someone with a pedigree to win trophies as the coach. Talking about Arthur's removal, I'm not really sure about him coaching wise and I have never spoken to him about things like that, talking to you as a coach myself. But I thought he was doing well and it's just that Chiefs supporters don't have patience. The pressure from the supporters is even worse now that the team has gone eight years without winning any major trophy. For a team like Chiefs that is a very long time without winning silverware," he said.
The Ugly
On The Quality Of Chiefs Players
"I don't want to lie to you, some players there are ordinary players. To wear that jersey means a lot and fortunately for them they are getting big money and they should be delivering. I think that's what the players are focusing on these days – the big salaries they are earning and are not raising their performances to be where they are supposed to be," concluded Mabotsa.
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